NHL topics this week include the NHLPA player poll, including most over-rated team; trade talk; the growth of hockey in the USA; and a rather embarrassing goal.

Player poll

Everyone likes a good poll, right? No? Well, I'm afraid we're going to talk about one anyway. This week the results of the NHLPA Player Poll came out with some interesting results. Some of the questions were about skills, and for the most part aren't that revealing of much apart from maybe that NHL players watched the skills competition at the All Star Game (ie. Who was the hardest shot? Chara, duh.)

But other aspects of the poll are worth taking a look at (one of which is interesting enough to warrant a separate comment entirely, but we'll get into that in a minute). What's notable in a few instances is how Sidney Crosby still features fairly high in some categories, even though he's barely played all year. Take, for example, the responses for who players thought was the smartest among them. Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk won overall (45% of the vote), but Crosby came second (at 16%), just ahead of Datsyuk's teammate, Niklas Lindstrom (15%).

Same goes for "Who is the hardest player to play against?" – Sid ranks third, behind... uh, well, Datsyuk again (he did well in this poll, ranking high in his peers' esteem in most categories), and Zdeno Chara. Granted, Crosby only garnered 9% of the vote overall, but he's there. Not only that, he's ahead of his teammate who has been playing, Evgeni Malkin, who, as we probably all know, has stepped up in a big way in Crosby's absence.

Datsyuk also won out by a clean margin when players were asked from whom it was hardest to take the puck (47% of players felt this way). Malkin came second in that category with 10% of the vote. But third? Crosby, from whom it is still apparently difficult to wrest the puck, even when he's not on the ice.

Believe it or not, Crosby actually finished first when players were asked with whom they would select to start a franchise – and by a wide margin. Crosby was favoured by 41% of the players, ahead of Jonathan Toews (18%) and Datsyuk (6%). Sid's rankings are doubly interesting when you realize Alexander Ovechkin is really barely a factor in the poll, barely garnering a mention in most of the categories. And yes, he hasn't had an amazing season, but he's still on the ice. Shows what a cup can do. Not to mention everything else Crosby's accomplished.

Anyway, there were other results.

Patrice Bergeron was named the most underrated player, but the category turned out to be a tough one on which to get much of a consensus. Bergeron won out with only 9% of the vote, followed by Dallas' Jamie Benn (6%) and Loui Eriksson (4%). Though, I supposed if you're Dallas you might want to take some comfort in both of those results, given the season they've had, small though the numbers may be. It might mean there's some potential for good years ahead.

And here's a fun one: Most overrated team? Vancouver Canucks. Is this a surprise? I thought it was a bit, given how far they took Boston last year, and how well they've been playing of late. The NHLPA site doesn't seem to indicate when the poll was taken, or over what period of time, but I'm betting the Canucks' pre- and post-Christmas climb up the Western conference standings had not completely occurred when most of the players responded to these questions. That might account for the result, but I'm not sure. Though it does give some extra life to the perception that the Canucks are not that well-liked around the league.

For the record, the Maple Leafs finished second behind the Canucks in being overrated, according to the players. That, again, probably has something to do with the Leafs' early season performance and the going assumption that, like other years, it just simply wasn't sustainable. Given their recent games, that might have been an accurate assessment.

Most underrated team went to the St. Louis Blues, which is certainly less surprising these days than it would have been even a couple of months into the year. The Blues are indeed a formidable team, and as Dtown noted last week in the comments, though the Red Wings are equally impressive, their (now) 23-game home winning streak has been necessary in some ways just to stay ahead of St. Louis. That's saying something. On that same question, the players ranked another Central division team, the Nashville Predators, right behind the Blues as 'most underrated'. So, if you're a Wings fan, the playoffs could be a stressful time. Keep up those home wins!

One last thing before we get to some more serious stuff, the players also ranked their favourite rinks to play in. Each of the top six rinks were those of Original Six teams, with Montreal's Bell Centre being first. Nothing like being in a true hockey town, I suppose, no matter how well the home team is doing.

Players still want fighting

On the surface, it might seem worrying that, after all the news about brain damage and the Derek Boogaard expose, NHL players might be more willing to take a second look at this aspect of the sport. Apparently not. This result will no doubt please people like Don Cherry, who again this weekend on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada went on a bit of a rant about how fighting would never leave the game, and so forth. You can watch it here, but really, that's the gist of it -- you can save yourself having to actually listen to him.

Then again, there's not a lot of nuance in the question itself, so we don't know from this poll what role players think fighting ought to play in the sport. Should it, as seems to be occurring anyway, be dialed back and serve as less of a factor in the game? Is it something that ought to be penalized differently if it stays? There's just no telling how fighting really falls into the players' view of the sport overall. Given that, asking whether they want it banished completely is pretty stupid. Of course they're going to say they don't want it banished – few do. And to not ask actual questions surrounding fighting in the game is somewhat irresponsible. If fighting is indeed causing the kinds of problems it seems to be over a player's life, then the PA owes it to its members to actually examine their perspectives on fighting in a much more comprehensive way than simply offering a simplified binary option.

The only other question the PA asked with regards to fighting was whether the instigator rule ought to stick around. Fifty-three per cent of players thought it should, which is down from 66 per cent last year. I'm not sure what that means, exactly. I suppose you could take it to mean there's an overall shift (perhaps a regressive one) to desire a pre-1990s style of play, which would in turn suggest an even more surprising kind of mass dismissal of recent lab results on concussed brains. But I'm more inclined to believe this probably reflects a general sense from the players that the rules surrounding when an instigator penalty is called are unclear, which has been a sense gleaned overall from the ranks this season.

Thoughts welcome on both of these aspects of the poll.

Trades

There was some trade action this past week, though as we get closer and closer to the deadline, it really seems like everyone is going to hold their cards and wait until the summer to make any major moves. That's probably smart in a lot of cases, as in the last couple of weeks, the shimmying of teams around the final playoff spot has been pretty fluid in both conferences. Essentially, a lot of teams seem to still think they have a chance, and don't want to rock to the boat too much.

Which is why Montreal's move this week was kind of strange, in some ways. The Habs traded staunch defenceman Hal Gill to Nashville for... uh, nobody. Well, not nobody – they got forward Blake Geoffrion, the great-grandson on his mother's side of Habs great Howie Morenz, and the paternal grandson of Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion, inventor of the slap shot and another Montreal legend.

This current edition of Hockey Geoffrion – let's call him Geoffrion 3.0 – has been back and forth between the Predators and the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals for a couple of years now. It's possible that he'll bloom when he comes to Montreal, but that's not necessarily something I'd imagine most people would expect. But who knows? Stranger things have happened. There's potential, if he's given ice time and fits the system (whatever that is at the moment?). The Habs also picked up forward Robert Slaney in the Gill deal, who, like Geoffrion is more a student of the AHL and the uh, East Coast Hockey League than anything else.

They both came along with a 2nd round draft pick in 2012, which might pay off, but still doesn't seem like a lot, considering they gave up a Stanley Cup winner and a guy who was generally well-regarded by fans and, it seemed, the team as well.

It very much seemed to signal that Habs management is fairly convinced they aren't making the playoffs. As of writing, the Canadiens are 6 points back of 8th place, and haven't looked spectacular this week. It probably means their slight chances of making the postseason are even less now, but all the same, Gill is a valuable asset in a lot of ways. I sort of thought the deal was strange.

"Both teams involved got what they need; Montreal gained a good draft pick and a decent prospect while Nashville added to their defensive depth. If I had to pick a winner of this transaction, I would have to agree with the consensus that the Canadiens came out on top... It's unlikely that this Geoffrion will ever have his name lifted to the rafters, but he should eventually become a solid bottom 6 forward, and chip in offensively from time to time. In my opinion, this is more than fair return for an aging defenseman who likely would not have been re-signed by Montreal at the season's end."

And George Kouniakis agreed:

"When looking at the return that Gauthier was able to land, it would have been crazy not to pull the trigger on this deal. Many Habs fans who are ready to declare the team sellers would probably have been happy with only a second round pick. So when you consider that the Canadiens were able to land two prospects in exchange for a conditional fifth round pick next year, this was a great move by the general manager."

Plus, the HabsWorld guys point out, Gill is old, and of course, Montreal has to be cautious there. It doesn't want too much experience on the team – that might be helpful.

Opinions on this trade are very welcome. I'm not so sure about it, but I'm happy to be wrong.

Over in Philadelphia, the Flyers picked up defenceman Pavel Kubina from Tampa Bay in exchange for forward Jon Kalinsky and a conditional 2nd round pick in 2013, along with a 4th rounder in the same year. The Flyers were probably right to make this kind of a move. They needed more help at the back end going into the post-season, which they are likely going to be in for at least the first round. The Flyers also grabbed Nick Grossman from Dallas, who, like Kubina, is a big guy and isn't afraid to play a rough game – exactly the kind of guy the Flyers like and needed ever since Chris Pronger disappeared earlier this year. I think if I were a Flyers fan, I'd see good things in these moves.

Over in New York, nobody new has been acquired for the Rangers... yet. But it seems like Rick Nash is on the cusp of going somewhere, and the Big Apple is certainly a team high on the list of places he may land. But don't tell Rangers fans, who were unhappy when Nash scored at MSG on Sunday.

"As Nash was announced as the scorer, the New York crowd erupted in boos, with a segment getting a chant of "We don't want you" going. Of course, if Rangers brass acted only on the whims of the ticket-buying public, Sean Avery still would be in New York, rather than the AHL. For his part, Nash took it all in stride, partially echoing the "fans don't boo nobodies" mantra of a long-ago New York import, Reggie Jackson.

"That's the reception you're going to get in any building if you score in the last minute, to tie it up on the road," Nash said."

Yeah... sure, Rick, that's probably it. (Shifts eyes side to side.)

Or maybe they just don't want him screwing things up for them. Pierre Lebrun considered the Rangers option over at ESPN, and notes that Columbus will probably want some younger Rangers players (Del Zotto, McDonagh) that New York simply won't want to give up, no matter how many goals Nash might potentially bring them. "There's no denying the Rangers' interest in Nash and the obvious fit he brings for the goal-challenged team," Lebrun writes. "But can the Blueshirts get Columbus to take their idea of a suitable package, or will the Jackets win out in what they'd rather bring home?" And that's not even getting into how much he might cost, which is probably also something Rangers fans had on their minds. So, we'll see how that pans out, but I'm thinking at this point it's an unlikely move, but I might writing something very different this time next week.

Hockey in America

So what happens when youth hockey in the U.S. eclipses that of its Canadian neighbour? It will happen in the next decade, according to Charlie Gillis over at Maclean's, who outlines exactly how America is building a base of hockey players that will likely make it the more hockey-heavy of the two North American countries... eventually. From this week's issue (at time of writing the piece isn't online yet, but likely will be within a few days – they stagger content):

"The U.S. has yet to catch Canada – we had 572,000 players last year of all ages, male and female. But its trend lines are better. Since the early 1990s, when the NHL embarked on its aggressive expansion in the U.S., the number of Americans playing the game has ballooned by 257 per cent. Canada's registration levels have remained comparatively flat, averaging 550,000 over the last decade."

The jump in player registration has taken place exactly where the NHL has devoted its time and money – in the southeastern, Pacific, and Rocky Mountain regions. Crucially, too, it's young people who are signing up. According to Pat Kelleher, U.S.A. Hockey's assistant executive director in charge of membership development, the governing body signed up its 100,000th player below the age of eight last season, and another 11,000 did so this year, Gillis writes.

It's not uncommon in Canada that every once in a while to have a bit of hand-wringing over the state of the game and whether Canada is winning enough to make sure there are no questions, ever, about who is really in charge out there most of the time. The Olympics victory helped that, but two consecutive flame-outs in the World Junior Championships probably has a few furrowed brows over at Hockey Canada.

(It also doesn't help that Sweden is pumping out stellar players at an increasingly alarming rate. In 2001, only 5% of the players drafted to the NHL were from Sweden, with only 2 Swedes going in round one. Last year, it was 12%, and 6 of the round one picks were Swedish.)

Anyway, it really is the Americans we're worried about most, even if we should be happy they're getting into it. This has always been the problem with hockey in Canada: There's so much of an attachment that is generally made in various ways between hockey and Canada (and sometimes for good reason), that the quiet fear it will eventually be taken away from us by the Americans is made that much worse. To make a sweeping generalization (but I think one that's probably accurate), many Canadians would read these numbers with a sigh of inevitability twinged with a bit of panic. What are we if we can't be the world's best hockey assembly line?

But isn't this what hockey has always wanted – to become a more prominent sport in the U.S.? For all of Gary Bettman's faults, one has to acknowledge his success in this regard. He was bent on southern expansion, did it, and now the sport might be better for it in the long run, ensconced in the minds of millions of Americans who will pass that attachment to their kids, and thus provide for a certain kind of longevity to the game. Bettman might be hated for taking the game too far south and for plotting to move its center of gravity away from Canada, but it's a plot that worked.

As Gillis points out: "Much as we love the game, Canada's low birth rate threatens to cut the pool of young people who might play it by nearly five per cent over the next decade, according to a report prepared last year for Hockey Canada and the country's NHL teams." The U.S. has a birth rate that exceeds replacement level, and a small bump in the last few years in overall TV viewership, and often a surge in particular markets like Boston or D.C. It all means positive things for the state of hockey, and mostly it's thanks to U.S. interest in the sport.

In terms of paving the way for hockey to survive, Bettman might be viewed as either a lucky fool or some kind of genius.

Goals!

Here's a goal that should never have happened. It's from the Finland2 league, and as you'll see, TuTo goalie Tommi Virtanen thinks there's a delayed penalty, so he heads off to the bench for the extra attacker to come on. Except there was no delayed call, and Vassan Sport get the puck. The rest is rather embarrassing.

.And here are some much less embarrassing goals from the NHL in the last week: